Faded Memories
by Werewolfling
Summary: A waif from Hisoka's childhood, long forgotten returns to haunt him. Can Tsuzuki save him from this lost memory? shounen ai TsuzukiHisoka eventually
1. Part One : It Begins

Faded Memories  
  
My first Yami no Matsuei story . . . Just be warned, I normally do a couple trail stories with me running around in them to get a feel for the characters and atmosphere, but I haven't done that this time, so the characters may be more OOC than I intend. Also, I've only seen the TV Series, and while the manga IS on order, I can't exactly read it, so please don't yell at me for messing things up if the information is only in the manga. Webpages can only help so much in that area, ya know. Well . . . Please enjoy! ^_^ Also, any creative criticism or what not, please give me feedback. I'm not happy with this part on a whole and am not sure what I could do to improve it, arigato for feedback early!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Arigato, Tatsumi, Watari!" Hisoka walked into the medical wing to hear Tsuzuki singing their coworkers' praises. He moved passed the partitioning curtain to stand at his partner's bedside. "Oi! Hisoka! Perfect timing! Would you like to share these treats with me? They are get well gifts from Tatsumi and Watari." The man's face was back into that familiar happy expression, very different from the broken mask Hisoka remembered from the night Touda was summoned.  
  
"We'll visit again later, Tsuzuki." Watari winked and dragged Tatsumi from the room.  
  
Hisoka shook his head. "I just ate, Tsuzuki, thanks anyway. I just stopped in to see how you were doing."  
  
"Fine, fine. They should be letting me out of here later today." The brunette mumbled happily through a cake. "How are you doing anyway? Burns healing all right?"  
  
"Aa." Hisoka gripped his arm gently, a nervous gesture, feeling the bandages under his sleeves. "They weren't that bad."  
  
Tsuzuki sat up, reaching forward to take Hisoka's hands. "They were injuries you got saving me. If it weren't for you, I would not have found a reason to live . . . I would be gone." Tsuzuki looked very serious. "You saved me and I am very grateful for that."  
  
Hisoka looked away. "Tsuzuki . . ." He blushed faintly. "I couldn't let you go, not after all you did for me. I couldn't just give up on you without trying anything."  
  
Tsuzuki smiled. "Thank you, Hisoka."  
  
Hisoka nodded stiffly. "It was the only thing I could do."  
  
"Now about these sweets. You sure you don't any? . . . Hisoka?"  
  
The young shinigami made a non-committing sound, still looking at the floor. He seemed suddenly distracted, eyes shimmered from untold emotion, or, Tsuzuki thought, pain. Tsuzuki's brow crinkled from a slight frown. "Hey, have you been feeling all right?" He drew the boy forward and felt his forehead. "Hmm, not warm."  
  
"I've been having some bad headaches lately. I should go home, they come pretty fast."  
  
"Really? Have you told Watari about them?"  
  
"Not yet, we've been so busy." Hisoka's hands began to tremble, carefully he raised one to massage his temple. "This one's hitting faster than normal." He grimaced, then gave a cry soft cry when his legs gave out on him.  
  
Tsuzuki leapt to his feet, catching the boy and hoisting him onto the bed. "You stay here. This seems serious."  
  
"Where are you going?" Hisoka gritted out, watching Tsuzuki warily.  
  
"To find Watari, of course. You should have told him about these, you know."  
  
"Please, don't leave." Hisoka begged, emerald eyes squeezing shut for a moment.  
  
Tsuzuki turned back toward the bed. "Hisoka?"  
  
"Please . . . Tsuzuki . . ."  
  
Tsuzuki returned to his partner's side just in time to hear a soft whimper and to see Hisoka's eyes roll back into his head. "Oi! Hisoka!" He shook Hisoka's shoulders, "Wake up, Hisoka!" When he got no response, he sent his messenger bird to fetch Watari for him.  
  
The blond doctor arrived in an instant, but still seemed hours too slow for Tsuzuki. "Tsuzuki! You don't have all your strength back yet! You shouldn't be summoning shikigami! Why..." Watari froze mid-rant when he saw Tsuzuki's stricken expression.  
  
Tsuzuki looked helplessly at him, "Watari, he won't wake up."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"It's been a long time, HisokaKun. I almost gave up looking for you."  
  
Hisoka whirled around, trying to locate the source of the echoing voice in the eternal darkness. "Who's out there?"  
  
"You don't remember me? It has been a long time, but I thought I had meant more to you." The phantom's tone was soft and sweet, a husky purr. "And now, I have finally found you."  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"You promised we would be together forever. I am going to make sure you keep that promise."  
  
"But who are you? You have to tell me!"  
  
The voice laughed merrily. "You'll know soon enough. I know where you are now, HisokaKun. You cannot escape." The voice was fading, growing dimmer with each word.  
  
"Wait! Don't go!"  
  
Lightning flashed through the nothingness, illuminating a pale girl looking over her should at him with soft green, slit-pupiled eyes. A terrible mix of bat and feathered wings grew from her back. She smiled darkly at him, showing slight fangs, and gave her wolf-like tail a slight wag. "Don't worry, HisokaKun, soon you'll remember the night that you abandoned me." Then, in a blink, she was gone.  
  
"No!" He ran toward the place she had last stood and met nothing but blackness. "Who are you?" He whispered. The lightning flared again, all around him and it struck him, clanging through his soul.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Watari had tried everything he knew to get Hisoka to regain consciousness. Nothing had worked and Tsuzuki was going to make himself sick with worry. Neither was expecting Hisoka to yell or start shaking violently. Tsuzuki's first instinct was to grab him, as if holding him tight enough would stop the convulsions.  
  
"Tsuzuki, no, let him go. It's a seizure, all we can do is wait for it to stop." Watari frowned, Hisoka's sudden collapse was strange enough, but seizures were all but unheard of among shinigamis. Tsuzuki shifted nervously from foot to foot, he knew this wasn't normal either, what's more, it was his partner it was happening to.  
  
An eternity passed and the tremors began to subside and finally stop. "Here, help me turn him on his side." Tsuzuki rushed to comply, he took Hisoka's shoulders and turned him as Watari indicated. "Come on, Hisoka, snap out of it. You need to wake up now!" Watari hissed. Tsuzuki watched with concern, they would get to the bottom of this, but first, Hisoka had to open his eyes.  
  
The boy's hand clenched into the sheets first, his whole body tensed as his eyes flew open. They darted around the room, not seeing any of it and he screamed, lashing out at the caring hands that held him. Tsuzuki caught Hisoka's wrists quickly, pinning them against the bed. "Hisoka! Calm down! It's just us, Watari and Tsuzuki! We're trying to help!"  
  
It took a moment for Hisoka to reorient himself. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm better now." Tsuzuki released him and helped him sit up.  
  
Watari gave him a thorough examination. "Nothing seems wrong, but I need to do some tests to be sure."  
  
Hisoka stood up. "Maybe later. I just want to go home right now."  
  
Watari nodded. "All right. Just be careful, Hisoka."  
  
"I'll walk you home." Tsuzuki volunteered.  
  
Hisoka raised a hand to stop him. "You still need rest. I'll be okay." He turned and left before Tsuzuki could argue. 


	2. Part Two : Tracking

Faded Memories - Part Two

Another part done. Wow, I'm so proud of myself, two whole parts in less than a month. Let's hope I can keep this going. I went to Ohayocon last month and I'm pretty sure I saw the Tengu from the manga (the twin crow demons) ^_^ I love those guys!

-----------------------------------------------

Over two weeks passed and Tsuzuki couldn't get anywhere near his blond partner. The boy wasn't answering his door or phone. It also worried Tsuzuki that Hisoka hadn't gone in to see Watari. The only person who had heard from him was Konoe-san, Hisoka called each morning to let Konoe-san know he wouldn't be at work.

Tsuzuki was ready to pull his hair out. He stopped by Hisoka's house and still received no answer. He tried for so long that now he was late for a briefing about a new case. "G-gomen nasai." He panted, rushing into the room and bowing low.

"You're late, Tsuzuki!" Konoe-san gruffed.

"Ah, sorry, I had stopped to check on Hisoka . . ."

"Hisoka made it to this meeting on time, unlike you, seventy year waste of space!" Tsuzuki looked up in surprise, there Hisoka sat. He was pale and sweat beaded on his forehead, it seemed that his headaches were still bothering him. "Now if you could sit down, we'll get started."

"A-aa." Tsuzuki sat down quickly and Tatsumi shut off the lights.

"There have been a large number of extra deaths in your district, in the towns surrounding this forest here." Konoe-san started a slideshow, first of a map of the area, then of the victims. "All were young men who seem to have been mauled by wild animals. Examination of the bodies identifies the bites as canine, but larger than any known species. Ten deaths in two weeks is too many, I want you to get to the bottom of this." Konoe handed Tsuzuki a file with additional information.

Hisoka nodded and rose, leaving Tsuzuki to scramble after him. "Oi, Hisoka, wait!" Tsuzuki grabbed Hisoka's arm and immediately regretted it when Hisoka cringed in pain. "Gomen . . ." He dropped his comrade's arm and looked at the floor bashfully.

"It's alright, Tsuzuki, it's not your fault."

"I've been so worried! I thought we were partners and you disappear for weeks! Don't shut me out, let me help, Hisoka, like you helped me."

Hisoka shook his head, "I don't think you can help. I can't even help myself."

Tsuzuki sighed. "I don't want you to over do it while we're working. If you start feeling bad, let me know and we'll take a break, okay?"

That'd be fine. Let's go before it gets too late." Hisoka pulled away, heading for the door.

The brunette watched him helplessly, they had made so much progress, but now, now the boy was pushing him away again. He didn't know what he could do for Hisoka. He couldn't make him hurt any less, no matter how much he wished to take away his pain. With a shake of his head, he hurried to follow his partner.

---------------------------------------------

Soon they were patrolling the sidewalks of the living world. The most of the mauling were concentrated in a warehouse district right on the edge of the forest. They could just see the start of the deep wooded hills beyond the buildings, full of caves and valleys for animals to hide. "Do we have any clues beyond unusually large canine bites?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Not really." Hisoka replied. "Some dark colored hair were found at three of the scenes. They were human, but didn't match any other known species either." He paused a moment to run a hand through his hair. "The scene of the most recent murder is just about a block away from here. We should go look at it first."

There was still police tape around the scene, a short alleyway between two warehouses. The walls still marred with blood splatter. Thick gouges ran down from the roofline, five cuts deep into the wall. "Claws?" Tsuzuki ran a finger over them.

"Probably." Hisoka squatted down, examining the blood pattern. "There's some impressions here that look like pads of a paw." He spread his fingers wide over it. "It's almost six inches wide." With a gasp, he jerked back.

"Hisoka?"

"It's fine, just startled me." The blond answered. "It a very strong spiritual residue. Wolf or dog demon, very powerful." Also, it felt male, a fact which Hisoka wasn't sure if he felt relieved or irritated about. The demon girl continued to haunt his dreams since the day in Tsuzuki's hospital room. And he hadn't missed the coincidence of a demon canine making it's appearance in the living world at the same time.

For a moment he considered telling Tsuzuki about her. The thought was quickly dismissed, Kyoto was still too fresh in their minds. He didn't want to make his partner worry about him anymore than he had already. With a shake of his head, he returned to the case at hand. "I may be able to trace this."

"Really? You sure?" Tsuzuki could name a few times that that thought blew up in Hisoka's face. Of course, he could name a few where it worked out rather well too.

"Yeah. It should be okay, especially when we get away from the scene."

Tsuzuki gave his partner's shoulder a quick squeeze. "Remember, don't push yourself, okay?"

Hisoka returned the gesture with a sharp glare. "I don't need coddled. Come on, follow me."

Hisoka led Tsuzuki through the warehouse district. Back alleys and vacant lots, then through a break in a chain-link fence and into the forest. "Watch your footing, Tsuzuki. It's easy to find roots or soft ground to trip on in a place like this."

"You never struck me as the woodsy type, Hisoka." Tsuzuki teased lightly.

"The land around my home was similar to this." The empath frowned at the memory of his childhood home. "I played in the woods when I was little, before . . . everything." There was something else there, something that had started it all, a bigger cause than his family and their blasted cage. The memory eluded him, much to his irritation.

---------------------------------------

The deeper into the woods they pushed, the more diffused the energy became. "It passed through here a lot, there isn't any one trail to follow over another." Hisoka paused, looking around.

"It looks like there might be a cave over there." Tsuzuki pointed to a creek that wove through the trees. Indeed, it flowed passed a dark hole partially obscured by bushes. "Let's check it out."

They made their way across the creek and through the brush. The pair had almost reached the cave when a deep growl came from behind them. Hisoka and Tsuzuki started to turn when the dark-furred blur leapt onto the smaller Shinigami. He fell with a straggled cry as the beast bit into his coat and shook him savagely.

"Hisoka!" Tsuzuki yelled, readying a spell.

It only took Hisoka a second to regain his senses and only a second more to gather the energy to jolt the canine off his back. He flipped over and scrambled back, getting closer to Tsuzuki before regaining his feet. The giant beast stared them down. Wolf, Hisoka decided, though it was almost taller than he was.

"Hisoka, there's more than one."

Glancing around them, the boy made out two or three more shapes stalking through the trees. "None of these are the leader I sensed at the scene, Tsuzuki, they're not strong enough."

"We still need to deal with them."

A wind blew that caused the wolves to pause and prick their ears. A howl cut through the trees and a gray blur dove through the branches, crashing into the largest wolf and knocking it away. The new arrival snarled at the other wolf.

Hisoka's eyes widened as he examined the new wolf. Its color matched the demon-girl's, as did the wings arching over its back. In his mind, the briefest of flashes on a small girl giggled at him, 'Hisoka-Kun!' he heard in his memory. " . . . Suni-Chan . . ." He whispered.

The wolf's head jerked up and she looked at him, glass green eyes boring into emerald. Then with a bark, the gray wolf bolted away. The others trailing behind her. Tsuzuki slowly relaxed his guard. "I don't think I'd have ever expected that to happen."

Hisoka nodded mutely, still gazing where the gray wolf had disappeared. She was connected, after all. But who was the little girl, who was Suni?

The boy got pulled from his thoughts by fingers snapping in his face, "Earth to Hisoka."

The blond batted the hand away, "What?"

"That last one, you seemed especially surprised to see it. What are you hiding?"

"Nothing! I don't know what you're talking about!"

Tsuzuki's eyes grew dark. "Hisoka! You knew its NAME!" He growled. "We going back to the hotel and then . . . Then you are going to stop avoiding me."

With a deep sigh, Hisoka nodded. "I know less than you'd think, but I'll tell you about it." 


End file.
